


Unsure

by aurumdalseni (kyo_chan)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Shiro's insecurities, Uliro Week 2017, shulaz, uliro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-12 01:37:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11151438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyo_chan/pseuds/aurumdalseni
Summary: Ulaz has been distant, and Shiro worries that it might be because of him.





	Unsure

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Uliro Week 2017 - Day 3/4 Misunderstanding/Sick and also as a response to a fabulous tumblr prompt I received. I'm very happy to be on this smol ship, and I hope you enjoy the fic!

Shiro stares for several long moments at Ulaz’s back, his towel still around his neck. All the anxiousness that had been building over the last couple of days is becoming a heavy presence, laying on his ribcage as if it’s trying to suffocate him.  This is the second night in a row Ulaz has gone to bed while Shiro has been occupied, most often with his back to Shiro when he arrives, and it makes Shiro feel things he’d rather not. It doesn't make any rational sense for Ulaz to be avoiding him here when Ulaz is the one who invited him. Shiro has tried all this time to tread carefully, but If he's caused some kind of offense, he is completely clueless as to what it is. Most of his attempts to approach Ulaz have been met with short answers and a minimum of touches compared to when they first arrived. That's assuming Shiro can find Ulaz in the first place; he's been scarce even to the other Blades for hours at a time. Against his will, Shiro is starting to get paranoid, and he hates it. He thinks he's too old to feel like a spurned lover or as if Ulaz has lost interest in him. And yet, it's honestly terrifying.

Frowning at Ulaz's back, he turns to hang his towel on its hook, reaching for one of his clean shirts and heading for the door. There is no warm, familiar voice calling him back inside when he leaves Ulaz's room.

He wanders, and it could be for minutes, but it feels like hours, and all with that creeping feeling in his gut that he just wants to curl up under the covers and hide from his own insecurities. But it's pretty difficult to do that when technically his room is Ulaz's room. He swallows the lump in his throat and finds himself outside the door to Vex's lab. He recognizes it from his original tour of the building, a garishly bright sign on the door proclaiming in bold Galran symbols to "Keep Out". Sighing, his hand hesitates over the panel so he can ask for permission to enter, but Vex's voice on the speaker stops him.

"It's a little late for you, but c'mon in."

The doors slide open and Shiro stops inside the threshold to take it all in. The room is awash in monitors. Some of them seem to have some kind of video feed or another and some just have lines and lines of text. They're all moving in soft blue-purple glows and are the only things illuminating the room. Vex is at the epicenter of it all, perched on what Shiro can only compare to a stool, but it's shaped a little differently and seems perfect for the bend of Vex's long legs. He spins to face him, golden eyes not all that dissimilar from night animals with the way they were lit up. Shiro has found himself more and more comfortable with the eerie effect as his time spent with the Galra goes on.

"It's good, right?" Vex pipes up at Shiro's bewildered expression. He motions to one of the screens just a little above his head, one of the ones with lines of text. "That one right there? All the feeds from Thace came in on that one. And this?" He points off to his right. "The schematics Ulaz uploaded from your arm. After he helped you escape, he moved over to Thaldecon, which has all of its check-in data here. You wouldn't believe the ruckus it stirred when he said he found you again."

Shiro is still coming to terms with it, accepting just what his position as the Champion, as well as a paladin of Voltron, had become to the Blade of Mamora. Listening to Blades like Vex talk so excitedly about him had a tendency to make him self-conscious, but he listens regardless. Even now, he's making a mental note of the screens Vex points out. They're important, and in the short time he's spent here, Vex is the one who most fearlessly approaches him. Shiro might even be considering him a friend. More than might, actually.

"What brings you to my lair, Shiro? Ulaz headed back a while ago. Though you would have been long since entangled by now. Can't sleep?"

It would be so easy to let that be his excuse, it's not like insomnia isn't a common thing for Shiro. it's been far less so since coming here, but that's beside the point. He could take the excuse offered to him, however unintentionally, but for some reason he doesn't.

"Vex, did...has Ulaz said anything to you? About me?"

Vex did a slow, catlike blink. "Ulaz isn't the type to speak freely about your affairs, much to our disappointment, but he hasn't really said much of anything lately. I just thought he was focused on your training these last few days. Why? Is something wrong?"

"I dunno, he just..." Shiro takes a deep breath, and once more he feels like a teenager. "He seems to be withdrawing, and I don't know if it's something I did, or if he's busy with something for the Blade. It’s very sudden, and..." He can't bring himself to say that he feels like he's an intruder in Ulaz's nest, which bleeds over into other insecurities about whether or not he belongs here at the Blade headquarters. On a deeper level, it strikes a chord in him that makes him doubt Black's bond with him too. He hadn't realized how deep his hurt had gone until this very moment, and he's glad he's stopped himself because it's getting really hard to swallow the lump in his throat.

"Hey, now." Vex hopped off the stool, waving his hands a little before taking Shiro's shoulders. "He might be caught up in something that Leader assigned to him, but I can tell you for sure that avoiding you for something you did or didn't do isn't really Ulaz's way. No one in the Blade would even think about questioning your worth to him. Your his /mate/, Shiro."

In spite of himself, that word still brings the dumbest little smile to Shiro's face. it fades quickly. "I don't know what to say to him then."

Vex's ears flickered once, twice, then he breaks out into a fanged smile. "Maybe you shouldn't say anything at all then. Just go right back to your room, and if he won't tangle up with you, you tangle up with him. It opens the floor for you to ask him things. He'll tell you honestly, I'm sure."

Shiro isn't so sure, but he wants to believe Vex is right. Ulaz has never been anything but direct and honest with him. Even when his life was threatened by the princess, restrained and cast in doubt, he had been frank with his words. Shiro squares his shoulders, reaching up to pat Vex's hand gratefully. "You're probably right. I'll head back to him, and we'll work this out. Maybe I just needed to hear it from someone that wasn't inside my head."

"You don't want me inside your head, trust me."

"I believe that. Goodnight, Vex."

~*~ 

Ulaz still sleeps with his back to the door when Shiro returns. Only an hour ago, it felt like a wall between them, but now Shiro is trying to look at it as an opportunity. He’s still braced for something to happen that will ultimately hurt, but he tries very hard not to think about it that way. He strips down to his sleeping pants and slips into the nest, aligning himself until the fit is comfortable and right, sliding his arms around Ulaz’s torso. Tucking his nose into the nape of his neck, he breathes in, settling himself against Ulaz’s warmth. To his relief, there is no resistance, no sign of Ulaz trying to pull away or push him back. In fact, he barely stirs at all. Shiro is content with that for only a moment before a different kind of worry creeps in.

“Ulaz,” he whispers.

Again, Ulaz doesn’t stir. Shiro’s mouth is dry. He presses even closer, his hands digging into the dips of Ulaz’s ribs, he listens. It doesn’t take long for him to hone in on the sound of Ulaz breathing, and he’s immediately grateful, but he can already tell there’s something wrong. It rattles, in and out, as if someone is dragging Ulaz’s lungs over a grater. Shiro’s heart jumps into overdrive, and he pulls back. Stumbling to the comm, he frantically taps in the connection code to Vex’s lab.

~*~

“Why didn’t you say something?” Shiro chides gently, his hands wrapped around Ulaz’s. Thankfully, the chill had gone. His thumbs stroke over soft, fine fur.

Ulaz squeezes Shiro’s hands in return. “You are hardly one to talk about mentioning when something ails you, Shiro.”

Heat blooms in Shiro’s cheeks, and he clears his throat. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ulaz’s head tilts down to Shiro’s arm and then back up to his face. The message is loud and clear. He moves on, not wanting to make Shiro too uncomfortable, but he’s unable to resist a little teasing here and there. “It is instinct among my kind. We are predators at our base level, and other predators hone in on weakness. It is natural to hide, but I underestimated how severe it had become.”

“I’m just glad we were in friendly territory,” Shiro replies. “I thought…” He shakes his head. “Nevermind.”

“Thought what?” Ulaz blinks slowly, then closes his eyes. When Shiro doesn’t answer him, he thinks he understands. “You have done nothing wrong. My actions were in no way because of you.”

“I never said…” 

“I don’t believe you have to. You should know by now how straightforward I can be when the situation calls for it.” 

Shiro glances down at his arm and flashes Ulaz a rueful smile. “I do.”

Ulaz levers himself up into a more upright position so he can kiss Shiro’s temple. “Thank you for looking after me.”

Shiro leans into him, and this time when he presses up to Ulaz’s torso, his breathing is clear and strong. “That’s what a mate’s supposed to do, right?”

Ulaz’s hum of approval is all the answer he needs.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me about Uliro and Voltron on [tumblr](http://paladinpuppypile.tumblr.com)!


End file.
